NBPA Top 100 Camp Recruiting Notes — Part Two

In the closing days of the NBPA Top 100 Camp, we were able to catch up with some of the top prospects in the class of 2012 and 2013 to talk about their favorite schools, their new lists and much more. Check out what guys like class of 2012 center Andre Drummond (#1), class of 2012 power forward Amile Jefferson (#11), class of 2012 power forward Robert Carter (#33), class of 2013 power forward Chris Walker (Watch List), class of 2013 point guard Nate Britt and many more had to say about their recruitment.

Chris Walker ¦ Watch List ¦ Power Forward ¦ 2013

On his recruitment: “It’s going really good, I’m getting looked at by every college in the country.”

On who contacted him first Wednesday: “The first call was Baylor head coach Scott Drew.”

On if any conversation stood out: “Not really because they were all talking about the same thing.”

On which older guys have been recruiting him: “[Class of 2011 shooting guard] Austin Rivers from Duke, [class of 2011 power forward] Quincy Miller at Baylor and [Wizards point guard] John Wall for Kentucky.”

On which school is recruiting him the hardest: “Florida’s definitely been recruiting me the hardest.”

On which coaching staffs he has the best relationship with: “I would say I have the best relationships with Kentucky and Florida.”

On which schools he wants to visit: “I want to take my first visit to Kentucky.”

BeeJay Anya ¦ Rank: NR ¦ Center ¦ 2013

On how his recruitment is going: “It’s going good, I’ve been recruited by Maryland, Georgetown, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, Virginia, South Florida, U.C.L.A., N.C. State, St. John’s, Rutgers… Texas, Ohio State and a bunch of others.”

On his list of schools: “I don’t have one, I’m completely open.”

On which coaching staff he has the best relationship with: “I took a visit to U.C.L.A. so I’ve met with their entire coaching staff and I feel like I bond with them well and they talk to my mother so it’s been a good experience.”

On what factors into his decision: “I’m looking for a school that takes pride in their big man, that likes to pass their big man the ball and a school where I feel like I can make an impact as a freshman and a school where I feel like I’m at home.”

On who he’s talked to recently: “I’ve talked to Texas, St. John’s, Rutgers, N.C. State… Duke called me the other night… it’s been great, all of these schools have been looking at me and I have a lot of choices to look in to.”

On whether location matters: “Location isn’t a problem with me, I just want to go to a school where I feel like even if I’m away from home, I’m at home.”

On if any of his friends are recruiting him: “Yeah definitely, [freshman guard] Victor Oladipo from Indiana wants me to come to his school. He says they need me and my brother gives me advice on how to choose schools and stuff like that but he wants me to go to Indiana too.”

*Note: Also see what he had to say in class of 2013 point guard Nate Britt‘s interview below.

Mike Gesell ¦ Rank: NR ¦ Point Guard ¦ 2012

On how his recruitment is going: “It’s going good, I haven’t really narrowed anything down yet, I’ve just been taking a few visits — I’ve visited Iowa, Nebraska and Stanford so far — and it’s just been a really busy summer. I’m going to try to take two more visits this summer.”

On how his visits went: “It was good, it was a good experience and it gives you a chance to check everything out and make comparisons to see just how each school stacks up.”

On his favorite school: “I don’t think I have a favorite, all of them are different in their own way and there are pros and cons to all of them. I haven’t narrowed my list down yet or anything.”

On which schools he wants to visit: “I’m not sure yet, it’s a really busy summer so it’s tough to find time to take any visits.”

On which schools he has the best relationships with: “I have different relationships with all of them, I like all of the coaches that are recruiting me. That’s a big part of making my decision and I wouldn’t be considering a school if I didn’t like their coaching staff.”

On what factors into his decision: “Definitely the style of play — I like a more up-tempo type game.”

On which schools he thinks he will fit nicely in: “It’s hard to say right now, that’s why I’m still trying to take visits and still trying to sort it out so I’ll have a better idea when I try and shorten down my list.”

On which schools have been recruiting him the hardest: “Nebraska, Iowa and Stanford — they’ve been recruiting me real hard — so is Harvard and Virginia has recently come into the picture and I imagine they’ll start recruiting me harder.”

On playing at the University of Virginia: “It’s nice, I’ve always heard that they have a nice facility and it’s unique to come see the campus. It’s a cool place.”

On a timetable for his decision: “I’m definitely going to get it done before basketball season next year.”

On which coaching staff he has the best relationship with: “I have the best relationship with Ohio State and a little bit with Indiana and Purdue… I also have a good relationship with Florida, Georgia Tech and Minnesota.”

On the schools that are recruiting him the hardest: “Between Florida and Minnesota and Georgia Tech.”

On what factors into his decision: “Somewhere I can play as a freshman, get a good education, make sure I’m taken care of — it doesn’t have to be close to him but it has to be somewhat close, the line is draw at the Mid West.”

On which schools he sees himself fitting in well at: “Texas, Ohio State, Marquette, Iowa and Purdue… and Maryland, actually all of them.”

On when and where he’s taking visits to: “I’m probably going to go to two colleges this summer. I was thinking about going down to Texas. I don’t really know nothing about Texas but my brother really wants me to go there and he’s the one picking my schools.”

Robert Carter ¦ Rank: 33 ¦ Power Forward ¦ 2012

On some visits he has taken: “Their close to me so I went and took visits to Florida, Florida State, Georiga, Georgia Tech just to hang out with the players. It wasn’t really much of a visit, I just showed up to the open gyms.”

On who he hopes to visit: “I want to visit everybody, I want to visit a lot of schools that have been recruiting me. Ohio State, Kentucky, but I just can’t get up there right now.”

On what Kentucky is saying: “They talk to my AAU coach all the time. They talk about me and [class of 2013 power forward] Chris Walker. They’ve just been showing interest and taking a look at what I got.”

On how he and Chris Walker play together: “Me and Chris, he’s more athletic and blocks shots, me, I’m more on the inside and have post moves and shoot the ball and am a real skill guy, we play well together.”

On his interest level in Kentucky: “Kentucky is Kentucky, just like North Carolina, they’re the best basketball program in the country. You have to look at them and they have a lot of pros.”

On which coaching staff he has the best relationship with: “All of them about the same. You know how it is in the recruiting process, everybody wants you so I just got to be talking people and see how they really are.”

On who’s been recruiting him the hardest: “Everybody, everybody is recruiting me hard. The ACC and SEC, then I have schools like Ohio State that aren’t in the ACC or SEC.”

On his list of schools: “No, I don’t have a list at all, I’d say by the end of July I’ll have my list of five to seven schools.”

On a timetable for his decision: “By the high school basketball season next year.”

On what a school has to do to land him: “I have to feel comfortable, I have to be able to come in and play and they need to work with me to get my body right so I have a good chance at making it to the next level.”

On which school he sees himself fitting in at: “Right now, North… well I can’t even tell you right now.”

Nate Britt ¦ Rank: NR ¦ Point Guard ¦ 2013

*Note: class of 2013 center BeeJay Anya popped in and out of the interview so we transcribed his back and forth with Britt and us as well.

On his recruitment: “The recruitment is good, I have a lot of schools looking at me so I’m going to try to narrow it down to a couple of schools and take visits.”

On whether local schools have an advantage: “Yeah, I think they do, I would like to stay close to home but if a school feels right for me I might go.”

On if he has a list of schools: “No, not as of right now, probably later.”

On who he’s visited and his favorite visit: “I’ve visited Virginia, Virginia Tech, Duke… Seton Hall. My favorite visit was Duke because when I went down there I liked their campus and I was with [Duke point guard] Tyler [Thornton] and [class of 2011 point guard] Quinn [Cook] and they’re like my brothers. Tyler went to Gonzaga, [where I play], and Quinn and [former Duke star] Nolan [Smith] have all played with me.”

On a timetable for when he will narrow down his list: “Not really, but I would like to make a lot of my visits this summer and I pretty much will decide the schools I’m looking at after this summer.”

On which coaching staff he has the best relationship with: “I have a good relationship with [Villanova head coach Jay] Wright and his coaching staff. I’ve been up there a couple of times and I’ve been to their campus and stuff but I think I talk to coach Wright the most.”

On who’s recruiting him the hardest: “Villanova, Georgetown — everyday.”

On if any older guys are recruiting him: “Not really, Tyler and [North Carolina point guard] Kendall [Marshall] always make fun and push their schools and joke but not really.” [Adds BeeJay Anya]: “And BeeJay Anya as well.”

Anya [jokingly] on where he wants Britt to go: “Whatever school I want to go to… wherever I commit he’s going to commit too. We haven’t talked about where but we will.”

Britt on his favorite and least favorite part of the recruiting process: “I wouldn’t say I have any least favorite parts, right now I’m enjoying everything. I would say my favorite part is taking unofficial visits and experiencing college life.”

On what separates the Villanova coaching staff from everyone else: “How much I’ve talked to them and how much I’m in contact with them.”

On who is first call was and if that meant something to him: “My first call was [head] coach Mark [Turgeon] from Maryland. He was just telling me he wanted me to be the first and it definitely means something to me. It shows the interest is definitely there.”

On who else called him: “Duke, Georgia Tech, Florida, Virginia, West Virginia, Notre Dame, I’m sure I’m leaving others out but I can’t think of all of them right now.”

On the coolest part of the recruiting process: “Just meeting the coaches and being able to build a bond with them because that’s one of the most important things in my recruitment.”

Amile Jefferson ¦ Rank: #11 ¦ Power Forward ¦ 2012

On his list of schools: “Villanova, Miami, Wake Forest, West Virginia, U.C.L.A., Stanford and a few others.”

On what he’s looking for in a school: “I’m looking for a place where I feel comfortable and where I can play a combo forward position and affect the game.”

On his top five schools and where he wants to visit: “Right now I’m pretty much wide open but hopefully I can get some unofficial visits in. Hopefully I can get down to N.C. State and Ohio State — I visited Villanova recently — but those are the schools I hope to get to.”

On whether location plays a role in his recruitment: “Right now, no, just because I don’t know where I want to be. Say a school in California was recruiting me I wouldn’t mind going there.”

Andre Drummond ¦ Rank: #1 ¦ Center ¦ 2012

On what he’s looking for in a school: “A school that has a great academic structure and also a great basketball team. And also a schools that has my major: computer engineering.”

On what type of system he wants to play in: “It doesn’t matter.”

On his performance at the NBPA camp: “I think I’ve played pretty well… the first day I had a stomach virus so I was pretty shaky and I just got over it but now I think I’m playing better.”

On what he wants to do this summer: “To work out everyday. Lift weights, go for runs and do a lot of basketball workouts.”

Justin Anderson ¦ Rank: #45 ¦ Small Forward ¦ 2012

On what it’s like playing at his future school: “It feels good man, great, it’s a great court and I’m already getting used to it and I can’t wait to get here.”

On how he likes the NBPA camp: “It’s been great, very competitive, the best players in the country. It’s a great camp to be in.”

[…] On the second day of the NBPA Top 100 Camp many day one stars continued to play well but there were also a lot of breakout performances from under the radar guys like class of 2012 point guard Gabe York. Don’t miss who the top performers were on day two and other evaluations of top prospects like class of 2012 center Andre Drummond (#1) and class of 2012 shooting guard Rodney Purvis (#7). Also be sure to check out our day two recruiting notes. […]

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